Albuquerque International Sunport

Bernalillo County has extended the public comment period for a controversial road project in an industrial area south of Albuquerque.

The $19 million Sunport Blvd. extension project is intended to make commuting easier and bring more business development to the South Valley - that’s according to Bernalillo County. But people in a nearby neighborhood say they didn’t have a seat at the table while the plans were being made.

The idea to build a road connecting the Sunport with Rio Bravo Blvd started back in the late 1980s. But county planners back then ran into a roadblock: the street would need to cut through the South Valley Superfund site just west of I-25 where the Environmental Protection Agency was busy cleaning up groundwater contamination from weapons factories that used to be there.